President Mega officially opens national reforestation program
President Mega officially opens national reforestation program
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara
President Megawati Soekarnoputri launched on Saturday the
national reforestation program in the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT)
town of Soe, underlining it should be a community-based program.
The short ceremony was held in the village of Karang Sirih,
where the President planted a sandalwood tree, which is endemic
to the province.
The regency will plant some 100,000 trees as part of the
reforestation program.
"I expect this reforestation program to be a community-based
movement and not a government one, so that this can be followed
by people all over Indonesia," Megawati said.
The government allotted this year Rp 3 trillion (US$340
million) to regreen some 600,000 hectares of land. The program is
part of a recently announced five-year reforestation program
worth Rp 15 trillion.
Following his downfall in 1998, President Soeharto's
reforestation program came under the media spotlight for alleged
misuse of funds.
The regulations of that program required timber companies to
contribute funds to the reforestation program, but the
accumulated money was often used for purposes other than
reforestation.
Timber tycoon Muhamad "Bob" Hasan, known as Soeharto's golf
buddy, has been jailed over charges of abusing reforestation
funds, among others.
"I deliberately chose NTT to launch the program, because its
isolated location, its climate and the quality of its environment
have been some of the factors fomenting poverty," said President
Megawati.
But the poverty, she said, was the result of the way the
people had treated their environment. She said Soe was once known
for its apple and sandalwood trees, but had lost its reputation
as locals had neglected their environment.
During the one-day trip, Megawati was accompanied by Minister
of Forestry M. Prakosa, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration
Jacob Nuwa Wea, House of Representatives deputy speaker Soetarjo
Soerjogoeritno and People's Consultative Assembly deputy speaker
Soetjipto.
All of the accompanying state officials were members of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which
Megawati heads.
The president also attended the celebration of PDI
Perjuangan's 30th anniversary at the village. She warned her
cadres not to rebel against the party's policies or use the party
as a vehicle for personal gains.
She also reiterated her challenge to other political parties
to contest fairly in the 2004 general elections against the
country's largest party.